Yahya (name)

For other uses, see Yahya.

Yahya (Arabic: يحيى, romanized: Yaḥyā), also spelled Yehia, is an Arabic male given name.^[a] It is an Arabic form of the Aramaic given name Yohanan (Hebrew: יְהוֹחָנָן‎, romanized: Yəhoḥānān, lit. 'Yahweh is gracious') of John the Baptist in Islam, who is considered a prophet. For this reason, Yahya is a comparatively common name in the Muslim world.

Yahya

Gender	Male (given name) Unisex (surname)
Origin
Word/name	Arabic
Meaning	(Hebrew loan): Yahweh is gracious
Region of origin	Arabia
Other names
Related names	Jehiah, Yohanan, John, Evan, Giovanni, Hans, Hovhannes, Ian, Ioan, Ioane, Ioannis, Ivan, Iven, Ifan, Jack, Jackson, Jan, Jane, Janez, Jean, Jhon, Joan, João, Johan, Johannes, Jonne, Jovan, Juan, Juhani, Seán, Shane, Siôn, Yohannes

The related Biblical name of Jehiah (Hebrew: יְחִיָּה, romanized: Yəḥiyā, lit. 'Yahweh lives') has the Arabic form Yaḥiyyā (Arabic: يَحِيَّى).,^[1] with the exact Arabic consonantal text as the name Yahya.

1. The other Arabic form of the given name John is Yūḥannā يوحنا, which is the form directly derived from the original name, Hebrew: יְהוֹחָנָן‎. A notable example using this form is the Arab Christian John of Damascus' name, Yūḥana al-Dimashqī.

Mononym

• Yahya ibn Sarafyun (9th century), Arab medical writer known in medieval Europe as Johannes Serapion
• Yahya ibn Khalid (died 806), Vizier of the Barmakids
• Yahya ibn Umar ibn Yahya ibn Husayn ibn Zayd ibn Ali ibn Husayn ibn Ali, Alid imam
• Yahya ibn al-Batriq (fl. 796–806), translator of Greek scientific texts
• Yahya ibn Asad (died 855), Samanid ruler of Shash (819–855) and Samarkand (851/852–855)
• Yahya ibn Muhammad (829-863), Idrisid ruler (848–863)
• Yahya ibn Yahya (died 874), sixth Idrisid ruler and sultan of Morocco
• Yahya of Antioch (died 1066), 11th-century Syrian chronicler
• Yahya ibn al-Mundhir (died 1036), 11th century ruler of the Taifa of Zaragoza
• Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi, 15th century Persian language writer from the Delhi Sultanate
• Count Alexander of Montenegro (1585–1649), birth name Yahya, son of Sultan Mehmed III, a Christian convert and a pretender to the Ottoman throne
• Yahya bey Dukagjini (1498–1582), Ottoman diwan poet

Given name

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (born 1986), American actor
• Yahya Al-Shehri (born 1990), Saudi footballer
• Yahya Ayyash (1966–1996), member and chief bombmaker of Hamas
• Yahya Black (born 2002), American football player
• Yahya El Hindi (born 1998), Lebanese footballer
• Yahya Goba, Yemeni-American terrorist suspect arrested and charged as part of the War on Terror together with the other members of the "Lackawanna Six"
• Yahya Golmohammadi (born 1971), Iranian footballer
• Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (1869–1948), imam of the Zaydis (1904) and king of Yemen (1926)
• Yahya Hassan (1995–2020), Palestinian-Danish poet and political activist
• Yahya Jammeh (born 1965), president of The Gambia
• Yahya Khan (1917–1980), former Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff
• Yahya Mahmassani (born 1935), Lebanese diplomat
• Yahyah Michot (1952–2025), Belgian Islamologist and academic
• Yahya Rahim Safavi (born 1958), commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
• Yahya Sinwar (1962–2024), Palestinian politician
• Mirza Yahya Nuri, Subh-i Azal (1831–1912), Persian religious leader of Azali Bábism
• Yahya Petra of Kelantan (1917–1979), sixth King of Malaysia
• Yahya ibn Muhammad (829–864), fifth Idrisid ruler of Morocco
• Yahya ibn Yahya (died 866), sixth Idrisid ruler Morocco
• Yahya ibn al-Qasim (died 905), eighth Idrisid ruler of Morocco
• Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar (died 946), ninth Idrisid ruler of Morocco
• Yahya ibn Ibrahim, one of the founders of the Almoravid dynasty
• Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni (died 1056), chieftain of Lamtuna and the first emir of the Almoravids
• Makhdoom Yahya Maneri (died 1323), sufi of the Suhrawardi and the Maner Sharif Khanqa in Maner, Bihar

Surname

• Umm Hakim bint Yahya, wife of caliph Hisham.
• Ahmad bin Yahya (1891–1962), Yemeni imam
• Ali Yahya (1947–2014), Israeli Arab diplomat
• Izz al-Din Yahya (died 1338), 14th-century ruler of Satgaon, Bengal
• Tahir Yahya (1956–2007), Iraqi politician
• Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq (died 1258), Marinid emir at Fez
• Yaghmurasen ibn Zyan (1206-1283), also called Abu Yahya I, first sultan of the Zayyanid dynasty of the Kingdom of Tlemcen
• Abu Hafs Umar bin Yahya (died 1295), Hafsid caliph of Ifriqiya
• Abu Yahya Abu Bakr ash-Shahid (died 1309), Hafsid caliph of Ifriqiya and a martyr
• Abu Zakariya Yahya (1203-1249), founder and the first sultan of the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya
• Yaish Ibn Yahya (died 1196), 10th century, son of poet Hiyya al-Daudi and military leader for king Afonso I of Portugal

See also

• Yahyaabad (disambiguation)